[Themaintainers] Maintenance & Underground Damages

[Shu Chang-Xue]

Hi Vroon and Lee,

Thanks for sharing. Please count me in for potential discussions about leaks,
cracks, and holes and digital systems that offer preventative maintenance
at scale. I am thinking of engaging young engineer-architects (or students) in
these topics. I will certainly share your blog post within my milieu of
engineers and architects.

I am also wondering what does it mean when you say "dark side" of
maintenance. As you mentioned the damages caused by excavators, I would
like to understand what kinds of projects (and purposes) the "excavators"
were really doing for? Are they really "maintenaners"? or, are they just
conducting projects while carelessly caused (potential) damage on nearby
facilities like the gas utilities you work on. I feel that in many cases,
the damages in question are actually caused by the bad coordination between
different systems of infrastructure, or whatever responsible
stakeholders/authorities.

Just a thought.

Changxue Shu









On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 16:02 lee vinsel <lee at themaintainers.org> wrote:

> Vroon!
>
> I like this a lot. I'm copying the whole list on my reply because several
> people have mentioned over the past few years that they would like to
> explore the dark sides of maintenance. (As Andy and I try to make clear in
> our book, acting as if maintenance is implicitly good is as silly/blind as
> acting as if innovation is implicitly good - after all, systems of
> injustice and, for instance, greenhouse gas emissions also have their
> maintainers.)
>
> I'm wondering if you'd be willing to write your email up into a brief blog
> post. It needn't even be much longer than your original message. Then we
> could share it with a wider audience. And maybe even start a series on
> maintenance's dark sides.
>
> Lee
>
> On Mon, Oct 26, 2020 at 8:47 AM Varun Adibhatla (ARGO) <varun at argolabs.org>
> wrote:
>
>> Hello there kindred maintainers,
>>
>> Varun here. Hope all of you are well and maintaining thyselves through
>> trying times.
>> I work at a company that uses Machine Learning and Spatial Analysis to
>> prevent Damages to Underground Gas Distribution Assets.
>>
>> Thought I'd share some insights from the 2 years I've spent working
>> alongside some of the largest underground (and oldest) utilities.
>>
>> The Common Ground Alliance publishes the appropriately named DIRT report
>> that illustrates the scale of the Underground damage problem. They cause
>> the US Economy upwards of $30 Billion every year.
>>
>> A lot of these damages are caused by excavators (the folks probably
>> opening up your street right now) who "move too fast and break things"
>> (quite literally). Here's what I found interesting though. A lot of these
>> damages are caused by maintenance work.
>>
>> Specifically, the installation and replacement of road, water and sewer
>> infrastructure that tends to be deeper underground than Gas / Electric or
>> Fiber Infrastructure. Often this maintenance work has led to not only fatal
>> gas explosions, but also  taken out critical fiber infrastructure that
>> recently took out Virginia's Voter registration system.
>>
>> I share this story because it offered me some pause in what has otherwise
>> been a celebration of everything maintenance. If any of you are interested
>> in talking about leaks, cracks, and holes and digital systems that  offer
>> preventative maintenance at scale, give me holler @vr00n on Twitter!
>>
>> Stay well.
>> Varun
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>
>
> --
> Co-Director
> The Maintainers
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